[TriLUG] Switch from Spectrum Internet to AT&T Fiber

[Shannon Mecklenburg via TriLUG]

I want advice about switching from Spectrum Internet to AT&T Fiber. AT&T
brought fiber into all of the units in my apartment complex about 3 years
ago. Before, the only option was Spectrum for Internet if you wanted high
speed Internet as AT&T only was doing voice. My Spectrum Internet (I do not
have TV) service month is up on 9/28. I've never switched between network
vendors before, and I didn't want to go with AT&T when they first installed
as there was a 2-year contract. It appears that the service no longer
requires a contract. I see that I can get the 300 Mb fiber package for $55
which is less than the $75 and would give me synchronous speeds for uploads
which I would like for cloud backups. I know the $55 is an introductory
rate. What will the rate go up to once the promotion is over? I do not plan
to run any servers from my house, so I don't care that the AT&T equipment
won't allow port forwarding.

 

I have had really stable service with Spectrum over the past 4 years with
only a small handful of outages and most were only for a few minutes. So it
makes me nervous about leaving something stable for something unknown, but
since the fiber in the community is new and people have been using it for
several years, I'm hoping all of the kinks are worked out. One negative is
that AT&T placed the fiber jack behind my couch, and I would have to keep
the couch away from the wall since fiber doesn't like to be bent like cat 5
cable.  

 

What is the recommended path to make the switch? Do I first bring in AT&T
and get that running, and then do I call Spectrum to cancel? Do they require
advance notice or will they terminate on the same day that you call? So I
wait until maybe 10/15, get AT&T, and then cancel the Spectrum on 10/28?
Should I allow more time in case there is problems with the fiber? I just
don't want to pay for two services for too long. AT&T is also throwing in a
gift card ($250 I think), so I guess that will offset paying for two
services.

 

Thanks.